Joseph Sollis was executed in North Carolina on this date in 1827 for murder. It didn’t go so well, apparently leading a regular gawker to pierce the spectacle’s fourth wall and get involved in the action himself.
On this day..
- 1663: Gustav Skytte, pirate
- 1877: James Singleton, Beeville character
- 1896: Carl Feigenbaum, the Ripper abroad?
- 1803: Michael Ely, personator
- 1889: The first executions in French-occupied Tunis
- 1883: Henry De Bosnys, bane of Elizabeths
- 1940: Wilhelm Kusserow, Jehovah's Witness
- 1945: German soldiers for cowardice
- 1649: Robert Lockyer, Leveller
- 1792: Jacob Johan Anckarström, assassin of Gustav III
- 1995: Nie Shubin. Oops.
- 1733: William Gordon, almost cheating death
Joseph Sollis was my great x 3 uncle. His nephew, Bryant Sollis (named after one of Joseph Sollis’ brothers), served with the Union Army during the Civil War. Virtually all other Sollises were sons of the Confederacy. I have researched the original, handwritten record of the court proceedings leading to Joseph Sollis’ conviction. Unfortunately, they do not include the points of law argued by the Prosecution and Defense. They do reflect that a member of the jury was the brother of the deceased, Abram Kornegay. Although the defense counsel took issue with that potentially prejudicial perspective, his objection was overruled. Hmm.